Malone Surname Meaning & Origin
What the Malone last name means, where the surname began and how it spread.
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Meaning and origin of the Malone last name
Meaning of the Malone last name: descendant of a devotee of St John. Malone comes from the Gaelic Ó Maoil Eoin, "follower of Saint John". The family belonged to Connacht, and many of its members served the great monastery of Clonmacnoise on the River Shannon. The name later spread to Clare, Westmeath and Dublin. A curious detail: the song "Molly Malone", about a Dublin girl selling cockles and mussels, made the name famous, and her statue is a well-loved Dublin landmark.
Arms associated with the Malone name
A curious Irish detail: many Gaelic families adopted arms only after Norman contact, blending old symbols with new heraldic rules, as Malone families did.
Get your full Malone family history
This is only a glimpse of the Malone story. The full Malone history report goes much deeper into where the name began, who carried it and how the family spread, and it comes with a museum-style painted Malone coat of arms. Get the full Malone report.
Malone name FAQ
What does the Malone name mean?
Descendant of a devotee of St John. Common variants include O'Malone, Maloney, Malowney.
Where does the Malone surname come from?
It originates in Ireland, and is also found in the United States, England and Australia.
Is there a Malone coat of arms?
Arms were granted to individuals rather than to everyone with a surname. Herald Lab paints a personalized Malone coat of arms in museum style, based on historic heraldry.
Researched by Herald Lab Research Studio, since 1993. Sources: MacLysaght, The Surnames of Ireland; Dictionary of American Family Names (Oxford); US Census Bureau 2010.